December

December is quite the month! It is flying by and filled to the brim as we get ready to head home for the holidays for a little break.  We don't fly out until Christmas Eve morning and I'm hoping and praying that everything goes ok with the flights (we fly to Reno for a small layover before landing in SLC) so we make it time for family Christmas Eve fun!

This Monday was Dustin's birthday which we celebrated by going to a Portland Trailblazers basketball game vs the Toronto Raptors.  It was a fun game and the Blazers won which is always nice.  We also celebrated D-man's birthday by seeing The Hobbit in Real 3D with Dolby Atmos sound at the Cinetopia in Vancouver.  It was so unreal!  The video and picture quality was just... crazy awesome.  The movie was pretty good too, but I was mostly amazed by the imaging. 

In case I didn't mention it before, in October our ward got a new primary presidency and I was called to be 2nd counselor.  It has been fun but also made me SUPER busy!  Between learning what the heck we're supposed to be doing, cub scouts, sharing time, and planning a meet and greet breakfast for the beginning of the year, every night is booked!  But I work in an awesome presidency and we are learning quickly. 

It's crazy how sick this world is getting.  And not the good kind of sick.  On Tuesday here in Clackamas, just a 10 minute drive from our house, there was a shooting at the Clackamas Town Center mall.  This is the mall that we usually go to! We love Clackamas! We love how the sidewalks sparkle! It's crazy to think that someone would come and start randomly shooting at our mall!  It's lucky that this happened on a Tuesday afternoon instead of a Friday night or Saturday because the mall is always extremely busy.  Our hearts go out to those families that were affected by this sad incident.

And then Newton, CT on Friday.  Oh my.  I can't even begin to imagine why anyone would go to an Elementary School to kill innocent children and teachers.  That is a sick sick crime and I was so heartbroken to hear about the massive amount of damage that was done.  I send my prayers to those families in that town, both to those that had losses and those that survived.  That is such a tragedy.

What is this world coming to?!

As far as us, we're doing ok.  The news of our negative results reached a breakdown last week.  We were fine until some LDS students in a club meeting at school with Dustin started complaining about how they were pregnant again and how they can't believe they have so many kids.  UGH.  Makes me so mad.  And then I started my period which is always that awful reminder that it really didn't work.  That we are still waiting and must continue to exercise patience and faith. 

I did meet with a family doctor this week to get testing done on my TSH again and see how that is doing and whether we need to change my dosage for my thyroid.  I'm still waiting on those test results, but hopefully we can start making progress. My insurance is changing next year, which I am SUPER happy about because I've hated my insurance.  We did get a ray of hope when I saw an EOB show up online from my insurance that looks like it will cover most of the first ginormous bill we received for bloodwork.  I'm talking about an $818 bill going down to $24.... HUGE DIFFERENCE!  I'm still waiting for an updated invoice to really feel in the clear, but it was a tender mercy and a little sunshine that we will make it through this and not become absolutely broke at the same time.

I probably won't have time to post again this next week so we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  We look forward to 2013 and hope it brings happiness, peace and miracles!

Results

The results are in.  Thank you all for your prayers! We even heard that some people fasted for us! We really appreciate your love and we've felt your prayers.  After my freak out on Tuesday as I was getting ready for work on Wednesday, I really felt calm and that I would be okay with whatever the results would be.  My mom then flew in on Thursday to surprise my cousins and spend some time with us.  It was a busy weekend filled with a baptism, priesthood ordination, shopping, and lots of family fun!!  It was good to stay busy.

Also, I got to steal a baby. 

My aunt's sister's family from Spokane came down for the family filled weekend and they have a foster baby they are taking care of right now.  Little Peytin is 3 months old and so adorable.  And she LOVED me.  When I would hand her off to someone else, her eyes would follow me, wondering where I was going.  Stinking cute.

And then Monday was the test.  Unfortunately, the results came back as negative.  The IUI didn't take this month and we are not pregnant.  And we are both surprisingly fine with the results.  And I'm not saying that because I want you to think everything is hunky dory.  I wouldn't be afraid to write if things were terrible.  I blame all the prayers.  They may not have been answered as we had hoped, but they have provided a lot of peace and comfort.  We are honestly doing great.  Plus, a cold one always helps.

 December just isn't our month for pregnancies.  Two years ago I became pregnant on clomid and miscarried in December.  Last December is when miscarriage #2 was due. And this year we just have no dice.

I have no idea what the plan is now.  We will be taking a few months off to pay off the massive bills from all the testing that was done--- all which came back with normal results by the way.  Now THIS I am furious about (not about normal test results, but the massive bills).  My health insurance is the most worthless thing ever and is costing us terribly.    With all normal results on everything except my thyroid, I'd like to go to a regular doctor and follow up with him... so that it is in my network and can be covered by my insurance.  Seems like I should make sure that is in check before trying again, so I guess that's our plan.  Guess I do know what it is after all.  :)

Thank you again for your love and support.  Maybe next year we will have better luck and better news!